Tuesday, July 26, 2005

The Eli Harvey Homestead, article by Christine Hadley Snyder

The Harvey~Hadley Homestead on the Wilmington-Lebanon Pike, RR #1 in Clinton County, Ohio was built around 1824 by Eli Harvey (1803-1872). The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
In 1805, Elizabeth Carter Harvey’s son Isaac and her two sons-in-law John Hadley and Jacob Hale of North Carolina visited the Ohio country. They selected the rich land along Todd’s Fork in present Adams Township, Clinton County, and on January 6, 1806, Isaac and Eli Harvey paid $5,000.00 cash for 2,000 acres ~ Survey 2372. Although the two brothers made the purchase, the land was to be divided among the seven children (five sons and two daughters) of Elizabeth Carter Harvey, who although nearing seventy years of age, came that year with the families of four of her sons (Isaac, Eli, Caleb, Joshua) and of her daughter Lydia Harvey Hadley (wife of John Hadley). About one hundred people were in this Quaker migration from North Carolina to the Todd’s Fork area in 1806.

The families of Elizabeth’s son William Harvey and of her daughter Martha Harvey Hale came the following year, 1807. The land was divided, homes were built, and soon the "Harvey Settlement" was a thriving community. The first log schoolhouse was erected in 1808 on Isaac Harvey’s farm. In 1809 an indulged meeting of Friends was held in this schoolhouse. Isaac gave land for a meetinghouse and burial plot, and the first building was erected in 1812.

William Harvey’s farm of 650 acres lay south of the Wilmington-Lebanon Pike. His home was on the west bank of Todd’s Fork. Eli (1803-1872) was the only one of his children to locate permanently in this neighborhood. Piece by piece, Eli bought land until he owned nearly all along the pike for about two miles west from Todd’s Fork. The site he selected for his own home was about a mile west of the creek. He burnt brick and built a substantial home on high ground aback from the road.
On the 31st of first month 1824 Eli Harvey and Sarah Fallis declared their intention to be married. Six children were born. When the older children came to school age, the home was too far distant from the school, so Eli built one on his farm for his and the neighbor children. Ruth Fisher was hired to teach it, and boarded in the Eli Harvey home. Sarah Fallis Harvey died in 1835, leaving a three-month-old baby. Their children were Lydia (Linton), Mary Jane (wife of Samuel Lee Hadley), William Penn (father of the sculptor Eli Harvey [1860-1957]), Esther (Kimbrough), Ann (Doan), and Sarah.

A year after his wife Sarah’s death, Eli asked for his certificate to Miami Monthly Meeting that he might go there to marry Ruth Fisher. Ruth Fisher lived with her brother, one of two doctors who took up residence in Waynesville. Here too, she taught school fro 25 cents a day. (Ruth was one of the sisters of Drs. Isaac, Elias and Sylvanus Fisher who were physicians in Waynesville. Sylvanus Fisher with the help of Elias and other people of good will founded the Waynesville Academy in 1844.) Just a year later, Ruth Fisher Harvey had the first of her six children, four of whom survived to maturity: Hannah, John (Alta Harvey Heiser’s father), James, and Sina. As all these children grew up, they lived as one united family. In their later years Eli’s parents, William and Mary Vestal Harvey, lived in their little house on this farm.
After Eli Harvey’s death in 1872 this farm went to the Kimbrough family, who lived there until about 1892. The farm became the property of the family of Mary Jane Harvey Hadley and Samuel Lee Hadley in 1892. The heirs of William Hadley owned it until the two brothers Herbert and James Hadley and their father Everett M. Hadley purchased it in 1935. It had been occupied by tenants for several years. Herbert cleaned and improved it, and he and Lucile moved into it after their wedding in 1938.

Electricity was installed the next year. Herbert purchased all of it in 1946. About 1948 they remodeled the kitchen, and added a bathroom and sunroom and a coal furnace. The woodhouse was taken down and a garage built in its place. The back porch was rebuilt. A new entry portico was put on the front. A few years later, the “back room” above the kitchen was remodeled and divided in to two bedrooms.

Herbert and Lucile Hadley lived in the house from May 1938 until Herbert’s death in 1991, nearly 53 years. They raised five children: Mary Ellen (Krisher), Harriett (Clark), Christine (Snyder), Anna Jean, and Herbert Jonathan. The four daughters were born in the house. Herbert Jonathan farmed the land with his father for several years before moving into a business career. After Lucile’s death in 1997, her four daughters became the joint owners of the farm, the seventh generation of the family to own this land since 1806.

Monday, July 25, 2005

THE UNDERWOOD FAMILY REUNION

The Underwood Reunion (See, 2005 Schedule) was held at Miami Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends in Waynesville, Ohio (White Brick Meetinghouse) in Waynesville, Ohio on Sautraday, July 23rd, 2005.

James Stanton ~ Quaker Minister to African Americans and Native Americans

James Stanton (1779-1852) of Springboro, Ohio was an abolitionist and member of The Society of Friends (Orthodox). Born of Quaker parents in Dinwiddie Co., Virginia, Stanton achieved considerable success in assisting the plight of that state’s black population. In 1826 Stanton and his family moved to Warren County, Ohio and purchased a 114-acre farm in Clear Creek Township. The farm, known as Greenhill Farm, was a station on the Underground Railroad. The house is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. “James was a ‘lay preacher’ in the Society of Friends and made many trips among the Indians of the Miami Valley and as far away as the Oklahoma Territory. He married Ann Jones and they had a daughter Catherine Ann who was six years old when she and her family came here from Virginia in 1826” (Springboro Sesquicentennial, 1815-1965, A Souvenir Booklet Telling The Story In Word And Picture And Dedicated To Those Who Have Lived And Labored In The Community During The Past One Hundred Fifty Years, p. 19).
James Stanton, as well as being a conductor on the Underground Railroad in Ohio, was also on the Indian Concerns Committee of Indiana Yearly Meeting (Orthodox). He and his neice, Ann Stanton assisted Elizabeth Harvey and her family after her husband, Dr. Jesse Harvey of Harveysburg, Ohio who was the superintendent of the facility, died in 1849 at the Quaker Shawnee Mission in Kansas Territory (now Johnson Co., Kansas), see Ohio Yearly Meeting Minutes, 1849, p 18.

GREENHILL ~ The James Stanton Farm ~ Underground Railroad House

Today the Stanton farmhouse is surrounded by a modern plat.

The James Stanton Farm, "Greenhill", is located approximately one mile north of Springboro,Ohio. It is located near present day Dorothy Lane Market in the Settlers Walk development off of Rte. 741. The farm was originally 114 acres. The Stanton farmhouse was built in 1826 and is a two and one half story brick building of the Federal vernacular style. The Greenhill Farm from 1825-1959 was occupied by five generations of the Stanton family, many of whom were members of the Springboro Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends.

According to family lore, the steps seen in the old photograph above led to a hiding place. Runaway slaves were also said to have been hidden in the chicken house which is seen behind the boy on the horse.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Robert Slack Braddock and his wife, Elizabeth


INTERIOR VIEWS OF THE BRADDOCK HOME:

Quaker Homesteads: The Braddock Home

Rear of the Braddock homestead
Front Porch of the Braddock homestead
The Braddock home up on the hill overlooking the Little Miami River. Braddock Run is to the right and empties into the Little Miami.
The north side of the Braddock home

Recently married Robert Slack Braddock (b. September 4th, 1843 ~d. December 29th, 1928) was looking for a house on a hill with a spring. He found a farm on the east side of the Little Miami River just a few miles north of the little hamlet of Corwin, Ohio. It is located on New Burlington Road. He bought the land from David and Susana Mason in 1879. The original house had three rooms, plus a lean-to kitchen which had a dirt floor. The first years of their marriage were full of hard labor. Elizabeth (Eliza) A. Braddock (b. October 3rd, 1842 ~ d. January 26th, 1915) cooked in a kitchen with a dirt floor. The farm grew tobacco, hay, corn and wheat. At that time, tobacco was a big cash crop in the Waynesville area. Over the years the house was remodeled, rooms were added and conveniences. In 1903 there was a major renovation. A front room, a parlor, was added with a bed room above. A bed room was added above the lean-to kitchen. A floor was put into the kitchen and it was transformed into a living room. Later a new kitchen was added behind the living room with a screened in porch next to it. A pantry was then added onto the new kitchen. The big beautiful front porch was added last by Frank Braddock.
Robert and Eliza's son, Frank Braddock (m. to Jennie) inherited the farm upon the death of his father. In 1940, one of Frank's sons, Raymond Braddock (m. to Sara in 1930) took ownership and began living on the farm with his family in 1945.
For more information about Sara and Raymond Braddock see:

Monday, July 18, 2005

Aaron B. Chandler ~ First Superintendent of The Friends Boarding Home in Waynesville

Aaron B. Chandler
The Friends Bording Home ~ Waynesville, Ohio ~
Built in 1905
Aaron B. Chandler (Jaunary 13th, 1844 ~ September 19th, 1915) was the first Superintendent of The Friends Boarding Home that was built in Waynesville in 1905. He was a well-respected citizen of Waynesville and Wayne Township. The Chandler family arrived in the area of Waynesville in 1814 and was a prominent family all throughout the 19th century well into the early 20th century.

Aaron was a Civil War veteran who fought in the 79th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This regiment was known as the “Quaker Regiment” because of the large number of young Quaker men enrolled in its ranks. According to legend, its commander, Colonel Azzariah Doan, who was a Quaker, never carried a weapon, even in combat. After Aaron returned from the war, he married his first wife, Abi Carroll (January 4, 1843 ~ February 6th, 1903) in 1868. Aaron and Abi had two children:
· Mariana Chandler (1872 ~ 1908) who was a distinguished elementary schoolteacher, and,
· Walter D. Chandler (1876 ~ 1938) who was a carpenter, an electrician, an insurance man and an airplane mechanic.

Aaron B. Chandler established himself as a dairy farmer after the war and became Waynesville’s milkman. He was a carpenter. He was also a teacher. The first mention of him teaching is found in the 1870 Census. He was a teacher at the District #5 schoolhouse and was also District #5 Director until 1885. This schoolhouse, which is now a private residence, was called College Hill Schoolhouse and stood on his dairy farm property north of Waynesville half way along Old Stage Road to the little hamlet of Mt. Holly. The details of his teaching career are sketchy but in connection with education it was said of him, “Aaron B. Chandler was so prominent in the affairs of this community for so many years that he certainly needs no further introduction” (The Miami-Gazette, December 21, 1932). We, of course, wish that the Miami-Gazette reporter would have elaborated a little more about Aaron.

He retired from dairy farming in 1897 and the Chandler family moved into Waynesville. Shortly after moving into town, Aaron B. Chandler became the Justice of the Peace for West Wayne and East Wayne Townships. He also acquired an Insurance business, which had previously been owned by F. E. Sherwood, and had his office at first in the Way Building on North Main and then in 1899 moved his office into the Stoops Building on South Main. He maintained his Insurance business until his death in 1915.

Aaron was a Past Master of The Waynesville Grange #13 (Miami-Gazette, February 25, 1903) and often was the treasurer of The Farmer’s Institute as well as its secretary (Miami-Gazette, March 13th, 1901). He was also active in The Wayne Township Farmers Club (Miami-Gazette, July 17, 1912).

Aaron was a councilman of Waynesville before and during the the Great Fire of April 7th, 1900 when almost a full block of North Main Street was destroyed. The earliest known reference to his election to the village council is found in the Miami-Gazette on November 9th, 1898. He was appointed to a committee to look into buying Potter’s Field for a garbage dump. On December 14th, 1898 according to the same newspaper, A. B. Chandler was re-elected to the Board of Directors of The Gas Works. They were in the midst of laying gas pipe for lights throughout Waynesville. The following comment was made upon his re-election:

Chandler is the only one on the new board who served on the first board and proved himself to be a faithful, persistent worker in the interests of the company, a fact appreciated by its members as his re-election evidences.


Sadly, all the village’s council minutes had gone up in smoke during the Great Fire of 1900. Aaron worked tirelessly on the committee that laboriously re-wrote all the village ordinances. He was appointed to the Light Committee and was much involved in the establishment of The Electrical and Water Works. He often served on the Finance and Auditing Committees. After May 4, 1903 he retired from the council. From 1903 through 1909 he concentrated on the building and establishment of The Friends Boarding Home. In 1909, at the age of 65, he was asked to be a councilman again. Interestingly, when he returned to this civic service, he served on committees to build sewers along Miami Street from Fourth Street down the hill (opposite the FBH). He also worked on committees to build cement street crossings from the FBH to the schoolhouse lot and from the NW corner of Fourth and Miami to the FBH. He worked on the Sidewalk and Gutter Committee during his final years. He was almost always appointed to the Finance and Auditing committees. From 1912 till his death in 1915, he was the Council Clerk.

Aaron B. Chandler was an important leader in the local meeting of Friends known as Miami Monthly Meeting. He also was active in Miami Quarterly Meeting and in Indiana Yearly Meeting (Hicksite, which after 1900 was known as Friends General Conference). He held the important position of Clerk in Miami Monthly Meeting from 1873 till 1883 and then again in 1890. Aaron was an active leader in the Indiana Yearly Meeting (Hicksite) from 1890 until his death. He served on a variety of committees and was one of the trustees of the IYM Benevolent fund for many years. He was the clerk of Indiana Yearly Meeting (FGC) in 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1910, and 1911.

Aaron B. Chandler was instrumental in the building and then administration of The Friends Boarding Home during the first decade of its existence (1905-1913). He served on all the planning committees and held the position of Vice-President of the Board of Trustees of the Friends Boarding Home from its inception until his death. He helped to solicit funds for the project from Friends. When the Cincinnati contractors, The Fox Brothers, went into bankruptcy at the beginning of 1905, the burden of supervising the completion of this building was laid on his shoulders. He supervised the buying of materials for the construction and he supervised the workmen and paid them. He became the first administrative Superintendent of the Home on December 5th, 1905.

The first matron of The Friends Boarding Home was Lydia Ann Conard of New Vienna, Ohio. In 1903, Abi Carroll Chandler died after lingering with cancer for a number of years. On October 27th, 1908, three years after they began to work together at the Friends Home, Aaron B. Chandler married Lydia Ann Conard (1850-1931). In 1911, Lydia Conard Chandler resigned as Matron. The couple bought a home for themselves on Fourth Street. Aaron continued on as Superintendent and his widowed Aunt Esther Chandler Stout became the new Matron. Esther resigned after a year as Matron. In 1912 both Aaron and Lydia Chandler agreed to be in the interim Superintendent and Matron again with the stipulation that they not live in The Friends Home but in their own home only two blocks away on Fourth Street. Lydia was 62 years old and Aaron was 68. They remained in these positions until September 1913. Alice Alcorn of Mendenhall, Pa. was hired as the new Matron and Jonathan Haines was the overseer.

On September 13, 1915 Aaron B. Chandler was suddenly stricken with paralysis and there was little hope for his recovery. He died in their home on Fourth Street attended by Dr. Thomas Sherwood, M.D. and Dr. Robert Conard on September 15, 1915. On September 16, 1915, the Waynesville Council met in special session at the call of Mayor Hathaway. They recommended L. A. Zimmerman to fill the vacancy and finish Aaron B.’s term in office. Then the councilmen resolved to attend in a body the funeral of their friend and colleague (Council Records-Village of Waynesville, Ohio, Vol. 1, Vol. 2, and Vol. 3). Funeral arrangements were made through Ambrose Maffitt. The Rev. John F. Cadwallader, the Episcopal Priest at St. Mary’s Church, officiated at the funeral. The funeral was held at the White Brick Meetinghouse. Aaron is buried in Miami Cemetery next to his first wife, Abi, and his daughter, Mariana, Section A. His son Walter is also buried in the family plot. Lydia Conard Chandler lived many years after Aaron and is buried with her brother's family in the OddFellow/Masonic Cemetery in New Vienna, Ohio.
Also see the following, Aaron Chandler~ Biography, Speech and Obituary:

Wednesday, July 06, 2005


This map graphically illustrates the influence of Quakerism on southwest Ohio. Click on the map to enlarge. It can be enlarged a second time once you are on the separate page. There were also Quaker meetings and communities in Cincinnati and Highland County, Ohio. For more information about the local Quaker sites and copies of maps, contact Karen at campbeka@oplin.org. Posted by Picasa

John Satterthwaite Posted by Picasa

Famous Quakers from Southwest Ohio ~ John Satterthwaite: Businessman, Builder and Freemason


Friend John Satterthwaite was born 22nd day of 6th month 1786 and grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of William and Mary (Knight) Satterthwaite. He settled in the area of Waynesville in 1803. Here he met his wife Elizabeth Linton.
He was a very industrious and hardworking pioneer and highly respected. In partnership with William Worden, they established The Accommodation Stage Coach Line (http://www.ohiobyways.com/Accommodation.htm) between Cincinnati and Springfield in 1827. His farm on the Stage Road just outside of Waynesville was a changing place for the horses and hostel for the teamsters hauling freight from Lima, Sidney, Piqua, Troy and elsewhere. The Satterthwaite House (a private residence, right) is on National Register of Historic Places: 88000239 (3/30/1988). He was a township trustee and he built a number of bridges in the area: one across Newman’s Run and the bridge across the race going to Jennings Mill in 1824. He built the first covered bridge across the Little Miami River at Waynesville. He also set up a general store in Waynesville (Satterthwaite & Linton). He was the contractor and builder of the Friends' White Brick Meetinghouse (Miami Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends in Waynesville, Ohio) , mills at Waynesville and Mt. Holly (a gristmill in 1818) and several homes in Waynesville. He is considered one of the founders of Mt. Holly as well as Joseph Chenoweth who also built a mill at Mt. Holly in 1815. The Satterthwaite building on Main Street is now the Braden Candy Shop (http://www.waynesvilleshops.com/braden_sons/) . The Satterthwaite farm was also noted for its orchards, which boasted of fifteen different varieties. John Satterthwaite was a Justice of the Peace from between 1813-1833.

John Satterthwaite was also very active in the Lebanon Lodge No. 26, F & A.M. According to the Warren County, Ohio History of 1882 (Chicago, IL: W. H. Beers Co, 1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992, p. 501), he was also a charter member of The Lebanon Royal Arch Chapter, No. 5 that was chartered on December 12, 1821. He was a charter member of The Miami Encampment, No. 2, K. T. at Lebanon that was chartered on March 14, 1826. At the time it was most unusual for a Quaker to be a member of the Freemasons let alone an officer. Actually, the time from the 1820s-1840s was a time of persecution of the Freemason in this county, i.e. the Anti-Masonic Party that did almost destroy Masonry in this country. No record exists of him being the Master of this Blue Lodge (the records are incomplete), but he was elected Grand Master of Ohio in January of 1831 (http://freemason.com/PGM/john_satterthwaite.htm). He died on July 5th, 1837 and is buried in the Miami Monthly Meeting Friends Hicksite graveyard in Waynesville (burial July 6th, 1837, First Row, #39). His gravestone is the largest in the graveyard and is emblazoned with the Masonic Square and Compass (see photograph above).

The old Miami~Gazette Building,
now the Braden Candy Shop
Built by John Satterthwaite

Friday, July 01, 2005

Famous Quakers from Southwest Ohio ~ Esther Pugh, Quaker Minister & Tireless Worker in the WCTU

The following is the obituary of Esther Pugh taken from the Orthodox Quaker publication "The American Friend", Vol. 15 (1908), pp. 329-330:

ESTHER PUGH ~ Esther Pugh, daughter of Achilles and Anna Maria Pugh, was born in Cincinnati, Eight month 31, 1834, and gently fell asleep in Philadelphia, Third month 29, 1908. Her ancestors for generations had been members of The Society of Friends, and she was an ardent and most loyal one. She shared in the blessing of the "Great Revival," and ever after was conscientiously engaged in promoting the work of the Church in educational, Sabbath-school, temperance, missionary and church extension lines by giving her time, her means and her prayers.
It was her pleasure to entertain and encourage the ministry of the church in the old days of large Quarterly Meetings, and later in her own home, at Selma, Ohio (Clark County), where she was an esteemed Elder. She was selected by Indiana Yearly Meeting (Orthodox) as one of the trustees of Earlham College, and held that position until failing health made it necessary for her to resign.
Her work in the Women's Christian Temperance Union, beginning in Cincinnati, caused her residence at different times to be in Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio; Brooklyn, N.Y., and Chicago, Illinois. Her association with Frances E. Willard, was intimate and enduring. In a package of letters marked "Last letters from F. E. W.," we find Frances Willard saying, "We have summered and wintered together in honest, hard work for a great cause too long to be lightly parted. For myself, I feel the 'tie that binds' more strongly through the added years, and as the blessed ties that held so long and fast are slipped into the Land unseen."
A tender and appreciative funeral service was held at the home of her sister, Mary T. Wildman, in Philadelphia, at which John B. Garrett spoke most feelingly and confidently of the glorious victory of her life and death. She was then taken to Waynesville, Ohio, where the funeral was held in the Friends meetinghouse. The body was interred in Miami Cemetery, in the family lot, Fourth month 1, 1908.
Following in her father's footsteps, Esther also remained interested in the Quaker ministry to Native Americans. In 1888 she wrote a report "A Brief Account of the Work Among the Shawnees" which summarized the Quaker mission to the Shawnees in both Ohio and Kansas. It was published in "Indian Education and Civilization, 1888: A Report Prepared in Answer to Senate Resolution of Feb. 23rd, 1885" (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1888), pp. 685-686.

Famous Quakers from Southwest Ohio ~ Achilles Pugh, Publisher of "The Philanthropist" and Anti-Slavery Activist (1805-1876)


Achilles Pugh was born in Chester County, Pa., March 10th, 1805. His family settled in Cadiz, Ohio in 1809. When he was 17 he began working in the Cadiz Informant to learn how to be a printer. In 1827 he went to Philadelphia to learn more about the printing trade. In 1830 he settled in Cincinnati and was the manager of the Evangelist periodical. Achilles Pugh and his wife Anna Maria Davis Pugh (1806-1877), who married in 1832, settled near Waynesville, Ohio. They were members of Miami Monthly Meeting (Orthodox) in Waynesville. A few years later he formed a partnership with Morgan & Sanxay in Cincinnati. In 1835 the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society was formed. Achilles Pugh was an ardent abolitionist and he took over the publication of its newspaper “The Philanthropist” in his print shop in Cincinnati. His business partners refused to deal with the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society so their partnership was dissolved. On July 12th, 1836, a pro-slavery crowd destroyed his office and equipment located at 400 Pike Street. After further frustrating attempts to print “The Philanthropist” in Cincinnati, he moved his press and paper to Springboro, Ohio where he could publish it in relative peace up into the 1850s. He would ship the newspaper to Cincinnati on the Miami-Erie Canal. Achilles continued in the printing business up until 1875. After the Civil War he became more active in Temperance work. He had been hired in 1837 to manage The Cincinnati Daily Chronicle but because he refused to allow ads for alcohol, the paper was discontinued in 1846. He also became highly involved in the Orthodox Quaker ministry to Native Americans and traveled out west beyond the Mississippi to visit and inspect Quaker missions to the Indians.
For example, it was reported in the Miami-Gazette newspaper of Waynesville on July 28, 1869 that "Our friend Achilles Pugh is at present out among the Indians, fulfilling his duties as Inspector of the Indian agencies. He reports vegetation in that latitude of very rank growth, the prophecies a sickly season there."
He was also very active in the First Day School (Sunday School) movement. His daughter, Esther, also became a noted Quaker minister (see article, Famous Quakers from Southwest Ohio ~ Esther Pugh, Quaker Minister & Tireless Worker in the WCTU ). The same paper reported on October 20th, 1869 that "the Corwin Sabbath school (an Orthodox Quaker First Day School) was reopened last Sunday week, under the charge of our zealot friend Achilles Pugh. Success to it." On November 24th, 1869 it published that "Our friend Achilles Pugh and his daughter, Miss Esther Pugh, left here for Philadelphia last week, to attend a Sabbath-school convention there." We also know that Achilles was the president of the Wayne Township Bible Study (Miami-Gazette, September 9th, 1874).
The Pugh's 42nd Wedding Anniversary was celebrated in Waynesville: The Miami-Gazette on August 26th, 1874 noted that "Friends Achilles and Anna Pugh celebrated the forth-second anniversary of their wedding day last Seventh-day. All their children and grandchildren and a number of relatives were present to participate in the festivities of the occasion and to assist in making a most happy reunion, which they all hope to see repeated manytimes. May our venerable freinds live to celebrate their golden wedding, at least."
Sadly Waynesville lost a loved resident in 1875: "Friend Achilles Pugh and his family left yesterday for their new home in Cincinnati; their furniture having preceded them. Mr. Pugh and his family will be much missed in this community. They were ever ready to work in a good cause, and zealous in their labors, sparing neither means nor pains, when once convinced that the cause was just, to carry it through. They leave many appreciative friends here to remember their benevolence and general good citizenship; while in the sense of a public benefaction, Mr. Pugh's unexampled liberality to the Episcopal Church (St. Mary's Episcopal Church which is still meeting in Waynesville) will never be forgotten by the members of that communion. Before they had a roof over ther heads to call their own, and when there was no place in the village where their services could be held, Friend Pugh nobly came forward and supplied a place all ready furnished, and refused material compensation therefore. ~ This act alone of his will embalm him forever in our memory. May happiness, peace and comfort abide with him alway."
The Achilles Pugh Papers (FMS 55) can be found in the Quaker Archive at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana: see, http://www.earlham.edu/~libr/quaker/manuscripts/p.htm.
Achilles Pugh and his wife Anna Maria and one of his daughters, Esther Pugh, are buried in Miami Cemetery in Corwin, Ohio in Section H. Miami Cemetery is located directly east of Waynesville, Ohio across the Little Miami River. The dates on the tombstone (see above) are:
  • Achilles Pugh 1805-1876
  • Anna Maria Pugh 1806-1877
  • Esther Pugh 1834-1908
Achilles and Anna Maria Pugh had four children:
  • Esther Pugh (never married)
  • John Davis Pugh (m. Laura Fay)
  • Mary Taylor Pugh (m. John Wildman)
  • Achilles Henry Pugh (m. Mary Lavina Darr). Achilles H. Pugh continued his father's printing business in Cincinnati. It became known as the A. H. Pugh Printing Company. It lasted until the 1980s and was in the hands of the Pugh descendants until its close.
A good biography of Achilles Pugh by Dallas Bogan can be found on the Warren County Genealogy Society website: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohwarren/Bogan/bogan264.htm.
A longer and more complete biography about Achilles Pugh can be found on The Mary L. Cook Public Library ~ Ohioana Room ~ website: http://www.mlcook.lib.oh.us/Achilles%20Pugh%20-%20Orthodox%20Quaker-Publisher-Anti-Slavery%20Leader.htm.